Ensuring that adequate authentication measures are present for participating in video conferences is one consideration for many entities providing products and services. Proper authentication systems may ensure that individuals are identified with confidence so participants may know exactly who he/she is conversing with during the conference.
Traditionally, access to video conferences associated with an entity has been regulated by very limited authentication protocols. Once an individual has gained access to the main entrance of a facility associated with an entity, access to meeting and conference rooms within the facility may have been regulated by no additional authentication procedures or other security measures.
Limited authentication measures that have been employed include traditional keys and access cards to enter a conference room. However, these security measures do not allow identification of an individual with high confidence. For instance, someone other than the intended individual may gain possession of the door key or the access card and enter the conference or meeting without raising any suspicion on the part of others. In addition to traditional access credentials such as access cards and keys, other types of facility access systems utilizing biometric recognition also exist.
In general, entities may need to have proper authentication measures to ensure that people may be properly identified and authorized to participate in video conferences, particularly when classified or confidential material may be discussed. This identification and authorization may be required to guard against fraud, protect customer information, and prevent unauthorized identity use.
Current systems for video conferencing might have static placards indicating the various locations of the participants in the video conference or they may have the location of each participant on the TV monitor itself. But video conferences may often be very dynamic events, with different people speaking in succession or simultaneously and moving about to serve different purposes that may not be adequately represented by current systems.
FIG. 3a illustrates a conventional method for conducting authentication associated with a video conference. At step 301a, an entity has an alarm system that may be activated. At step 303a, an individual who seeks entry into the facility represented by the entity may present access credentials. These credentials traditionally have included keys and access cards. The individual may be identified in step 305a, and the system may make a decision as to whether the credentials are valid in step 307a. If they are valid, then the security system may deactivate and access may be granted in step 311a. Meanwhile, if the credentials are invalid, then access may be denied in step 309a. Once the individual gains entry to the facility, she generally may access all video conference rooms within the facility in step 313a. 
FIG. 3b illustrates another conventional method for conducting a video conference. At step 301b, an entity has an alarm system that may be activated. At step 303b, an individual who seeks entry into the facility represented by the entity may present access credentials. The individual may be identified based on these credentials at step 305b, and the system then may decide whether the individual presents valid access credentials in step 307b. If she does not, then access may be denied in step 309b. If she does, the individual may be permitted entry into the entity in step 311b. If a video conference is scheduled, an individual may present access credentials again to enter the conference room or participate in the conference via the conferencing system in step 313b. These credentials may be the same as the credentials used to enter the facility or they may be different. Again, the individual may be identified based on the credentials in step 315b, and the system then may decide whether the individual presents valid access credentials in step 317b. If she does not, then access may be denied in step 319b. If she does, the individual may be permitted access to the meeting resources in step 321b. Once the individual is authorized, the video conference may be conducted with participants from multiple locations in step 323b. In this step the conference may be conducted with limited information about the physical locations and identities of each of the participants within the conference areas. Static location and identity placards may be placed alerting the participants of location and personal identification information. Finally, in step 325b, the video conference may be concluded and the method may proceed back either to step 313b or step 301b based on whether the identified individual is still within the facility.